A CPA that goes 'inactive' doesn't really relinquish the CPA designation. An inactive CPA does not have to retake the CPA exam to reactivate the license. I also believe someone can claim having earned the designation even if it is inactive, as long as it's made clear that the status is inactive. Now someone with in inactive status cannot certify financials as a CPA - that has to be done by a CPA with an active designation. That said, BIEL has an external CPA to do that, which is standard practice in most companies regardless of how many active CPAs are on staff in an organization. It's a very common scenario.
All that notwithstanding, it's frustrating to have the financials outstanding at this juncture. BIEL's financials have been traditionally straightforward, and as someone pointed out previously, a good deal of the quarterly report is a cut and paste from the previous quarter. It's sales, profit/loss, and cash flow that are critical and it doesn't (or shouldn't) take much to put that together. We are not talking about a company with multiple subsidiaries or complicated accounting issues, at least historically, and there is nothing to indicate that has changed. It is tempting to conclude BIEL cannot afford to pay and external CPA to sign off, but I cannot imagine things are that bad in terms of cash flow. Then again, it is possible for even a profitable company to require a bankruptcy reorganization due to negative cash flows; though that seems counter-intuitive, it does happen, and BIEL is not a profitable operation.
Getting the fins out - regardless of what they show - would stop speculation and be a positive development. The longer they go unfiled, the more speculation it will drive, and the more negative that speculation will be.
